O S I 
quity, reprefented at fig. 3. In this fpecimen of ancient 
fculpture, Mithra, with the Perfian or Phrygian mitre 
on his head, prefl'es with his right knee upon a fubjugated 
bull, whole tail ends in an ear of corn ; his flowing mantle 
feems violently agitated by the element of air, whilft the 
production of the earth and water feems to afi'ail the ox. 
On one fide, the head of Ifis iflues from a half-moon ; on 
the other is the head of Ofiris, or Apollo. A bird of the 
raven kind feems to peck at the principal figure in the 
group. The Bui! certainly means Agriculture; but why, 
fubdued by Mithra, who with one hand holds one of his 
ears and his mouth with the other, he fliould be teafed by 
the afl'aults of a young lion’s whelp, a ferpent, a fcorpion, 
and a crab, we muft leave for others to guefs. We thought 
at firft, that thefe animals might allude, in a diftant view, 
to the figns of the zodiac ; but that view was fo diftant, 
that the objects became imperceptible. Is Mithra, the 
principal agent, a fymbol of that life which pervades the 
whole of the univerfe ; as Virgil lays, Spiritus intus alit? 
Is the bull, then, an emblem of the teeming earth, which 
produces harveft underthe influence of the fun and moon ? 
Do the water-animals, the ferpent, the fcorpion, the crab, 
defignate moifture in fuch an abundance as to injure the 
growth of corn ? All thefe, we are afraid, will prove un- 
J’olvable queftions. Here the thick veil of antiquity de¬ 
feats the keeneft and moft eager curiofity of the man of 
knowledge and refearch, and lets him down upon the 
fame form with the moft ignorant of fchool boys. 
Whatever this curious bafl'o-relievo may mean, it will 
not be uninterefting to compare it with one which has 
been lately publilhed in the Archaeologia of the Anti¬ 
quarian Society. See vol. xix. Part I. It is fuppofed to 
reprefent the fafcinum , or evil eye, mentioned by Theo¬ 
critus and Virgil, (Nefcio quis teneros oculus mihi faf- 
cinat agnos. Eel. iii. v. 103.) and to have been fculptured 
in the time of Septimius Severus, when the worlhip of 
Mithra began to be widely diffufed in the weftern parts 
of the Roman empire. The eye is properly fet in the 
centre ; Mithra is above, and his back is turned towards 
the fpe&ator; on his right is a warrior, or mirmillio- gla¬ 
diator, armed with a trident and a fliort fword ; another 
figure was probably correfponding on the other fide, but 
it is loft. Beneath the eye we find the fnake, the raven, 
and the fcorpion, a crane, and part of a lion, nearly in 
the fame pofition as they are reprefented in our Engrav¬ 
ing at fig. 3. This is fuppofed (by the Rev. Stephen 
Wefton) to allude to the ceremonies obferved at the ini¬ 
tiation of candidates to the Mithraic fociety, a fort of free- 
mafonry of thofe times ; and to indicate that the neophytes 
were to be transformed for a certain number of years into 
thefe animals before they could obtain the purity necef- 
fary for their admiflion. But probably the eye reprefents 
the fun, oculus mundi, the eye of the world; the figure 
called Mithra, at top, denotes Ofiris, who is the fame ; 
and the fuppofed gladiator certainly indicates Typhon, 
who, having killed Ofiris with his Jword, throws his fe¬ 
vered limbs in the fea, hinted at by the trident which he 
holds in his right hand : from which we may conclude, 
that this fculpture has the fame intent as the Albani bas- 
relief, and does not refer to any fort of fafeination, but 
merely to agricultural purfuits. 
Fig. 4. is a half-length figure of Ofiris as a mummy, 
holding in his right hand a whip, and in his left a crooked 
ftafF; on the chin is a beard, or an ornament refembling 
one, fuch as is found on a number of Egyptian figures. 
Fig. 5. Ofiris (landing naked ; his head drefled in a kind 
of mitre, with the lotus; the right hand raifed, the left 
holding his phallus. According to Plutarch, Ofiris was 
often reprefented thus; and the Greek Cyllenian Mer¬ 
cury refembled him, according to Paufanias. Both thefe 
gems were in the fuperb cabinet of the late baron Philip 
de Stofch; but derived to us through the medium of Mr. 
Taflie’s Mufeum, in Leicefter-fquare, London. 
OSI'TH, or Osyth (St.) an ifland of England, at the 
mouth of the Blackwater-river, or Malden-water, in the 
O S M 3 
county of Eflex, with a village. It is faid to have changed 
its name from Chiche to that of St. Ofith, who was a vir¬ 
gin murdered here by the Danes, and canonized. A mo- 
naftery of black Auguftine canons was founded here »o 
her memory by Richard Beaver bifliop of London, in the 
year 1120. St. Ofith is eleven miles fouth-eall of Col- 
chefter. 
O'SIUS, Bifliop of Cordova in Spain, was born in 257. 
He became the friend of Conftantine, who, by his perfua- 
fions, convened, in 323, the council of Nice, where Olios 
prefided. Under Conftantius he was fo much perfecutcd, 
that he turned Arian. It fliould however be mentioned, 
that he was then very aged, being alinoft 100 years old. 
Having made his recantation, he was permitted to retur* 
to hisdiocefe, where he died foon after, extremely penitent, 
and in his lalt moments renounced the Arian herefy with 
great fervour. 
O'SIUS (Felix), a learned Italian, was born at Milan in 
1587, and became profeflor of rhetoric at Padua, where be 
died in 1631. His principal works are, 1. Romano-Grsecia. 
2. Traftatus de Sepulchris Epitaphiis Ethnicorum et 
Chriftianorum. 3. Elogia Scriptorum illullrium; and fe- 
veral other works, in high efiimation at the period in 
which he flouriftied. 
OSKAWA', a river of Moravia, which runs into the 
Marlcli near Oimutz. 
OSKIPA'RA, a town of Perfian Armenia: thirty-fix 
miles north-w'eft of Kanja. 
OS'KOL, a river of Ruflia, which runs into the Donetz 
near Izium, in the government of Charkov. 
OS'KOL, a town of Ruflia, in the government of Kurfk, 
on the river Olkol: fixty miles fouth-eall of Kurlk. Lat. 
50. 50. N. Ion. 37. 14. E. 
OSKO'VA, a mountain of Bofnia: twenty miles fouth- 
eaft of Serajo. 
OSLAWA', a town of Moravia, in the circle of Brunn : 
twelve miles well of Brunn. 
OSLAWA', a river of Moravia, which runs into the 
Iglau near Eybenfchitz. 
OS'MA, a decayed town of Spain, in Old Caftile, on 
the Duero, the fee of a bifliop : forty miles fouth-eall of 
Burgos, and fifty-two north-north-ealt of Madrid. Lat. 
41.45. N. Ion. 2. 58. W. 
OS'MAN A'GA, a town of Walachia: twenty-two 
miles fouth-weft of Galacz. 
OS'MAN TO'PAL, a diftinguiflied Turkilh general, 
was born in 1673. He was brought up among the youth 
of the feraglio dellined to public employments; and, by 
his proficiency in learning languages and military ex- 
ercifes, and his amiable difpofition, obtained the elleem 
of his mailers. He was appointed fuperintendant of the 
carriages; and, in 1698 or 1699, he was fent to Cairo 
with a meflage from the emperor. In his paflage the vef- 
fel in which he had embarked was attacked by an Alge¬ 
rine cruifer, and taken, after an action, in which Ofman, 
bravely fighting, w'as dangeroufly wounded in the arm 
and thigh. The confequences of the latter wound ren¬ 
dered him lame for life, and gave him the furname of. 
Topal, which fignifies “ halting.” The prize was car¬ 
ried to Malta, where it was vifited by Vincent Arniaud, 
a native of Marfeilles, then port-captain. Ofman, on his 
coming on-board, faid to him, “ Do a generous aflion : 
ranfomme: you will be no lofer by it.” Arniaud, (truck, 
with this addrefs, alked the captain who took him, what 
he demanded for the ranfom of this Have: the anfwer was, 
a thoufand lequins. Arniaud turned to Ofman : “ I never 
faw you before in my life; I know nothing of you; and 
you alk me to pay a thoufand fequins for you, on your 
bare word.” “ Both of us (replied Ofman) aft in charac¬ 
ter. For myfelf, I am in fetters ; and it is natural that I 
fliould employ every means to regain my liberty. You 
naturally diftrull my faith. I have no fecurity to giv* 
but my word, in which you have no reafon to confide ; 
if, however, you will run the riIk, I repeat, you will not 
repent it.” Impreffed with the franknefs of his words 
4 and 
